Nerina Pallot - The Reluctant Superstar

Nerina Pallot - The Reluctant Superstar

Not Just A Pretty Face

Promoting Her Latest Album

The Graduate

Video at the bottom of this page

“The funny thing is that I used to suffer from tremendous stage fright, which isn’t the best phobia to have when part of your career requires you to perform in front of thousands of people!”

Nerina Pallot pulls up her legs, rests her chin on her knees and grins at me and for a moment - just a fleeting moment - I see something that suggests it wasn’t too long ago that she put this fear behind her.

“I was very shy as a child and to be honest I never truly shed that complex until I turned 30. Around that time I suddenly had a personal epiphany and stopped worrying about what other people thought and just concerned myself with my own agenda in life”.

Brought up in Jersey with an Indian mother and French/English father she knew from a very young age that she wanted to be involved in music.

“I started learning to play the piano when I was five and I also learned the violin. I came from a musical family so I guess part of me was already “genetically programmed” that way.

“My main influences whilst growing came from the likes of Kate Bush, Elton John, George Michael and Steely Dan. If I had the opportunity to work with anyone today then it would have to be Steely Dan.

“However, when I finally went to college it was to study art, although I dropped out after a year because I didn’t really believe I had the ability to excel at it. At best I was probably a cartoonist!”

Did her parents agree with her decision?

“Even if they weren’t always in agreement with me, my parents supported me. Growing up in Jersey – in a place where everyone knows your name and your business - means that you always felt exposed in some way. I guess that might have attributed to my shyness and I am sure it had something to do with why I was always concerned about people’s opinions of me.”

Nerina was 26 before she released her first album – Dear Frustrated Superstar – and although it met with media acclaim, chart success eluded her, despite the presence of several well-written and commercial songs such as “Patience” and “Alien”.

“It was a bit of a difficult period for me. Being my first album it meant a lot and I had a few issues with the whole process. Let’s just say that it was an interesting introduction to the music business for me but one I did manage to learn from.”

Undeterred – because the truly talented rarely are - her second album came out in 2005 and proved to be both the commercial and critical success she was looking for.

“Fires was a very personal album and when I reflect on the whole production and writing process today I can see there is a fair bit of navel gazing and self-analysis going on in there.”

The album went on to be certified Gold following sales of over 100,000 copies and she received a Brit Award nomination for Best British Female in 2007 and a further nomination for an Ivor Novello Award in that same year.

Yet despite all the achievement and success, Nerina still admits that there is a part of her that is drawn to a more domestic life.

“My latest album only really came about because of the effort and support of my husband Andy. In truth I quite like the idea of a domestic life and following “Fires” there was a part of me that thought I might never make another record.”

Thankfully for her fans, Nerina did not submit to that temptation and October 5^th this year saw the release of “The Graduate” an album she describes as more upbeat than her last.

“I was going through a lot of issues with “Fires” but “The Graduate” sees me in a happier place, with a more settled outlook on life and I guess an all round contentment about what I am doing and where I am going.”

Certainly she puts much of this new-found stability down to her marriage to Andy Chatterley, the Grammy Award nominated producer who was also a fellow Jersey resident. In fact Nerina and Andy went to the same infant school (although he is a year older than her) but the two never met during that time. Even more bizarre was the fact that they both used to drink at the same pub when they were adults.

“Our story is a little like a fairy tale in some ways. Within half an hour of going out on a date together we became engaged and six weeks later we were married. I can honestly say it is the best decision I have ever made.”

Outside of her music, Nerina also decided to go back to education and she recently completed her degree in English Literature at Birkbeck University.

“It was something I had wanted to do for some time. Although I dropped out of Art College the desire to pursue an academic achievement stayed with me and when the opportunity presented itself I just took it.”

Over the last twelve months there have been fifty-two female artists who have launched new music onto the British market. That’s exactly one a week and yet Nerina Pallot displays an individuality and intelligence with her music that certainly gives her a clear advantage over her contemporaries.

In the era of Pop Idol and The X Factor, well-crafted pop songs might appear to some to be a dying art and yet her quirky sense of writing and ability to poke fun at herself is something few others manage to articulate so well into song.

“There’s still a lot of good music out there and I have a lot of faith in the next generation to keep the creative flag flying. The fact is, love them or hate them, we need the artists who emerge from TV talent shows because their immediate success creates the pool of wealth from which the more creative and long term talents emerge.”

As for her own new found optimism, she puts much of that down to experience.

“One of the outstanding lines I remember whilst doing my dissertation on George Orwell was his comment that “Good writing is like looking through a clean window pane”. I feel that I have finally got to a stage in my life where I can see out of that window and the view is just fascinating.”

When you get the chance to interview someone whose work you enjoy you can often end up coming away disappointed but I am happy to say that – my own personal prejudices aside as I have been a Nerina Pallot fan since her first album –in the flesh she is every bit as complex and yet engaging as her music.

I still question how much longer she may commit to her career in the short term because there is no doubting that the desire to have a family and perhaps adopt a more traditional lifestyle is never far away from her thoughts. But for now, on the strength of her latest work, I can only say that “The Graduate” is the reflection of an artist who is very much at the peak of her abilities and who seems to be more inspired than ever.

It features a number of catchy and involving pop songs such as Real Late Starter, Everything’s Illuminated and the wonderful When Did I Become Such A Bitch and is sure to delight current fans as well as earn her many more new admirers. If you would like more information on Nerina Pallot visit www.nerinapallot.com.

George R Vaughan